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Why Relationship Building Is So Important for Tech Entrepreneurs

Nov 09, 2022

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When building a tech startup from the ground up, your ideas and ambitions play an important role – but so do your relationships. Both inside and outside your company, your relationships have the power to dictate your success or lead to your failure.

But why exactly is relationship building so important for tech entrepreneurs? And how can you get better at this dynamic?

The Value of Relationships

Let’s start by covering the value of strong relationships for tech entrepreneurs. There are many types of relationships you’ll need to build (which we’ll explore in the next section), but most of them can provide value in many different ways:

  • Knowledge and insights. The people around you can provide you with extra knowledge and insights that you wouldn't be able to get on your own. For example, if you're working with a mentor or advisor, they can help you better understand the context of your business and provide you with recommendations for how to make your business grow more efficiently. But a person doesn't have to be more knowledgeable or more experienced than you to still be valuable; even laypeople outside your organization can sometimes provide important perspective that you can use to make better decisions within your business.

  • Collaboration and teamwork. Whether you’re working with an external third party or your own internal team, it's important to build good relationships for collaboration and teamwork. Despite your personal preferences, you'll likely be forced to work together with clients, employees, partners, and other parties on a regular basis. Your rapport with these people will play a significant role in the results of your collaborative project.

  • Favors and mutual value. Of course, strong relationships are also an excellent way to exchange favors and mutual value. If you know the other entrepreneurs in your area, you can trade products and services with them, equally benefiting both of your organizations. You can also trade tips, support each other in times of need, and brainstorm together.

  • Support and reassurance. Relationships, especially your personal relationships, are also valuable because they provide you with support and reassurance along your entrepreneurial journey. Entrepreneurship is highly stressful, and it's no coincidence that many business owners eventually stress their weight to burnout. Reducing your workload and reshuffling your responsibilities can help, but most professionals can get through anything if they have the right team and family supporting them.


Ultimately, your relationships have the potential to improve not only your business but you as an entrepreneur.

Types of Relationships

These are some of the most important types of relationships you're going to build in and around your startup:

  • Personal/familial. Nobody built a business alone. Your friends and family members are there to support you during these stressful and exciting times. While entrepreneurship can put a strain on a relationship, it's also extremely valuable to have a partner who can help you share the load of this journey.


If you're interested in marriage, it's a good idea to get married before you start your business so you have extra support throughout the earliest stages of growth. Working with an Iceland wedding planner can help you kick things off with a relaxing and beautiful destination wedding, so you can start your path as a business owner on the right foot.

  • Subordinates/employees. If you plan on hiring employees or working with contractors, you'll need to learn how to build relationships with your subordinates. Leadership isn't a role that everyone is naturally prepared for, but it's a role that you can adopt even if it feels unnatural. Showing confidence, decisiveness, empathy, and support can help people naturally trust you and become motivated by your leadership directives.

  • Peers/partners. In many organizations, you'll have the opportunity to work with peers or partners. You may have started this business with a partner, on equal footing, or you may be working with other organizations in pursuit of common goals. Either way, you'll need to learn to resolve conflicts peacefully, converse in an open and mutually respectful manner, and find ways to gently yet consistently push each other to be better.

  • Mentors/leaders. Ideally, especially if you're new to the world of entrepreneurship, you'll also have a mentor or a leader who you can shadow and learn from. It pays to have someone more experienced than you guiding you on your journey. You'll need to remain respectful of your mentor’s time, though it's up to you whether you take action on all of their advice.

  • Competitors. Sometimes, it even pays to build relationships with your competitors. There's nothing wrong with retaining a rivalry, but if you can collaborate on at least some matters, you can mutually benefit and grow together.


How to Improve Your Relationships

So what steps can you take to improve your relationships as relevant to your tech startup?

  • Meet new people regularly. Thanks to modern technology, it's easy to meet new people on a regular basis. Even if you don't feel like going to in-person networking events (which are highly valuable), you can still attend virtual meetups and meet people through social media. Even if you're happy with your current network and social circles, it pays to meet many new people; even brief, fleeting interactions with professionals can expand your knowledge and enrich your life.

  • Focus on quality over quantity. In most areas of life, it's important to focus on quality over quantity. While you shouldn’t shy away from meeting tons of new people, you should be more discerning about the relationships you maintain over time. Any seasoned entrepreneur can tell you one excellent employee is worth dozens of terrible ones – and a single valuable client might be better than a portfolio full of clients who barely purchase from you.

  • Remain transparent and open. People respect transparency and openness. Be as honest as possible in all your communications, and be forthcoming with your desires and motivations. The more you practice this, the more trust you're going to build.

  • Practice proactive communication. Most problems can be prevented. It’s much better to be proactive than reactive – so communicate early and often!

  • Recognize individual strengths and weaknesses. Each individual has unique strengths and weaknesses, so keep these in mind in your interactions and plans. Give employees tasks that allow them to show off their greatest strengths, and don't overburden your friends and family members if they're already at their limit.

  • Give before requesting. In email marketing, it's important to give subscribers value before you expect anything from them; that's why so many people attract new subscribers by offering them a free piece of premium quality content. This is true for your other relationships as well. It's important to give value before requesting any value. For example, if you're trying to get advice and direction from a mentor, consider giving them a gift or granting them a favor before you make any requests.

  • Be accommodating when possible. Throughout all your relationships, it's important to be accommodating whenever possible. You're going to have disagreements, differences in perspective, and other clashes; and while it's important to be decisive and preserve your integrity, it's also important to find compromises wherever they can reasonably exist. There's nothing wrong with finding a middle ground in most cases.

  • Stay top of mind (and in touch). You don’t have to travel to send a “thank you” email. Staying top of mind and staying in touch are remarkably easy, especially if you use automated alerts do you remind you to follow up. You must engage with your network regularly if you want it to remain active.


With better relationships, almost any entrepreneur is practically guaranteed to have a higher probability of success. With better partnerships, better employee relationships, a strong mentor to guide you, and friends and family to support you along the way, you'll have all the resources and connections you need to achieve your true potential.